Deeks interview

Day130
Here’s Deek’s interview. Check out her two sites:

http://www.cafepress.com/deeksbrats?pid=4370506

http://www.cafepress.com/deeksdigs?pid=4370506

1. What drew you to opening an online store? Were you in a related field?

As a SAHM of 5, we needed a second income, and I needed an outlet for my Paint Shop creativity. Selling shirts online seemed like the perfect way to accomplish both!

2. When did you open your store?

I started Deeksdigs.com (my raunchier shop) over a year ago and started deeksbrats.com (my family-friendly G-rated shop) a month or so later.

3. What is harder about doing this then you thought it would be?

Reaching customers, I think, turned out to be more work than I imagined. For some reason I assumed that since my designs were so awesome, people would find them without my having to do anything at all....(HOLY RUDE AWAKENING, BATMAN!!)

4. What do you like best about being an online shopkeeper?

I like that I don't have to do anything but design and promote my stuff. The printing, the shipping and the customer service is handled by CP.

5. During the very first month, what do you wish you had known then that you do now?

I wish I had known the importance of tagging my designs appropriately so that the search engines would pull my products up according to customer search terms. It makes all the difference.

6. Could you share some of the marketing you’ve tried so far (on or off line) and what has worked and what hasn’t?

Marketing can be tricky, with lots of dead ends. Online I have tried Craigslist, Recycler and other "free" ad directories and they DO result in hits to the shops, but those hits don't regularly convert to sales. My best advice for promotion online is MySpace. I built a MySpace profile for my Deeksdigs shop and a nice chunk of my sales come from there.Offline, I advertise in places that I know my customers will see me. Tattoo magazines for instance. Alternative lifestyle magazines also provide good bang for your advertising buck.

7. What other sites, blogs, etc. do you have if any?

I am concentrating on my shops 100% right now, but plan to do a blog sometime after Christmas.

Nancy’s comments - Deek must be doing something right, I see her banners in lots of other shopkeeper’s stores!
Her family friendly shop is set up very orderly. Her first section is Welcoming the Baby and has everything from the birth coach’s buttons to the new big brother or sister’s journal to write down what they want the new arrival to know. The next section is maternity items for mom and then on to the new baby, kids and teens. Just reading all the onesies is a lot of fun!